Software & Apps Apps The 10 Best Apps for Fixing Blurry Pictures Enhance your favorite photos of poignant moments and fun memories by Lisa Mildon Lifewire Tech Review Board Member & Writer Lisa Mildon is a Lifewire writer and an IT professional with 30 years of experience. Her writing has appeared in Geekisphere and other publications. our editorial process Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Lisa Mildon Updated on July 26, 2020 Apps Best Apps Payment Services Tweet Share Email It's frustrating when you capture a special moment with your camera only to discover the picture you took is blurry. Fortunately, there are apps out there that you can use to fix many of out of focus photos out there. It’s no surprise how dirty and smudged a smartphone camera can get. Phones are often shoved into a pocket, bag, or purse with no telling what lurking in their depths. You can quickly remove smudges, smears, and more with a soft microfiber cloth or even an eyeglass cloth. 01 of 10 SmartDeblur: Simplest App to Fix Blurry Pictures What We Like Pro version has command line options. Handy online tutorial. Show Original option helpful in deblurring comparisons. What We Don't Like Have to purchase Home or Pro version to remove watermarks. Pro version is a bit pricey. No smartphone app. This app sports a simplistic set of adjustments, but it gets the job done. It has a single click button for quick resetting of tweaks and showing the original photo. However, due to its simplicity, the power photo editor may be frustrated. Download SmartDeblur for Mac and Windows 02 of 10 Focus Magic: Best for Basic Photo Fixes What We Like Easy to use. Lifetime free upgrades. Comes with a Photoshop plugin. What We Don't Like The app isn’t free. ($65) No smartphone support. Focus Magic comes with a simple written tutorial to get up to speed quickly. It also has a clean interface but contains enough filters and tweaks to accomplish most tasks. However, if you’re looking for something to edit the finer details, you may want something more powerful. Download Focus Magic for Mac or Windows 03 of 10 PhotoLemur: Quickest Way to Fix Photo Blur What We Like Packed with features. App also comes with plugins for Lightroom, Photoshop, and Apple Photos. Bulk picture enhancing. What We Don't Like No 32-bit version. You have to provide your email address to download for free. This modestly priced app comes chock full of features such as color recovery, exposure compensation, natural light correction, and face retouching. The app comes with a simple and clean interface and is also very intuitive. Shedding some light onto your subject could be all you need for a sharp image. Without adequate lighting, the camera has trouble focusing on your photo subject. Try using the app’s auto-flash feature until you get a more instinctive feel for lighting or practice taking photos with and without the flash and then compare the quality of the image. Download Photolemur for Mac or Windows 04 of 10 PaintShop Pro: Powerful Alternative to Photoshop What We Like Supports most RAW camera images. Perpetual license, no monthly subscription. What We Don't Like With so many features, will take some time to learn. This option-packed app contains just as many features and tweaks as Photoshop but at a fraction of the cost. Unlike Photoshop, you get a perpetual license for a one-time purchase making this a dream for photographers and hobbyists alike. Download PaintShop Pro for Windows 05 of 10 Adobe Photoshop: Most Widely Used App to Fix Blurry Pictures What We Like Packed with features. Industry standard for image manipulation. What We Don't Like Monthly subscription means you never own the software. Expensive. Complicated interface and high learning curve. No longer available to purchase as a standalone copy, Photoshop is now delivered via the Creative Cloud. While this is handy for keeping your app always up to date, the monthly subscription can be costly. You can either subscribe to a single app for $20.99 per month or to the more economical Photography package, which includes Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic CC, at $9.99 per month. Download Adobe Photoshop for Mac or Windows 06 of 10 Adobe Lightroom: Best Photo Editing App for Photographers What We Like Simpler interface compared to Photoshop. Excellent organization and photo database tool. Version available on most platforms. Cheaper than Photoshop. What We Don't Like Monthly subscription fee means you never own the software. Lightroom is much easier to use product than its big brother, Photoshop, yet it still packs a punch for photo editing along with organization. It’s also much cheaper at a monthly subscription at $9.99 per month. Download Adobe Lightroom for Mac or Windows OS Download Adobe Lightroom for Android Download Adobe Lightroom for iOS 07 of 10 Adobe Photoshop Express: Best Social Features What We Like Much easier to use than Photoshop CC. Has features to create memes, add graphics, borders, etc. What We Don't Like Not available in as many platforms. For the smartphone, tablet, and Windows user, Adobe has a feature-rich app that has many of the full-blown Photoshop options. Geared toward the amateur, PS Express makes editing your pictures quick and easy. It even is available for Windows users who have the Microsoft Store installed. While a tripod might take some of the spontaneity away from taking snapshots, it can help give you a steady foundation for a stable image. By setting up a tripod, you can plan your subjects with little time and find the perfect area to frame for that captivating image. There are plenty of small tripods for smartphones and smaller cameras, and they’re relatively inexpensive. Download Adobe Photoshop Express for Android, iOS, or Windows 08 of 10 Adobe Photoshop Fix: Best App to Sharpen an Image on Mobile What We Like Can save to your Lightroom collections. Photos can be saved in the Photoshop (PSD) format. What We Don't Like Android version not available for tablets or Chromebooks. Photoshop Fix’s primary function is to do exactly as the name implies, fix your pictures for your mobile devices. You can quickly tweak any blurry pics without the need to be a professional photographer. Great for the smartphone user. Download Adobe Photoshop Fix for Android Download Adobe Photoshop Fix for iOS 09 of 10 VSCO: Best Selection of Presets What We Like App has some social features. Numerous setting presets. Tips and tricks section. What We Don't Like Yearly subscription. Geared more to the photographer, VSCO (Visual Supply Company) has numerous presets allowing emulation of different cameras and films. Users can also share their creations in the social media feature. The sharpen feature is easy to use with a simple slider to tweak your blurry photos. Download VSCO for Android Download VSCO for iOS 10 of 10 GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program): Most Powerful Free Alternative What We Like Open source allows for customization of the interface. Free to use. What We Don't Like Interface is complex and requires time to learn. Support is iffy due to open source. The only entry to include Linux, GIMP has tons of features including the Unsharp Mask to fix those unfocused images. While it may take some time to learn this fairly complicated interface, GIMP has enough features to give Photoshop a run for its money. Finding the Sharpen feature may take some digging, but fortunately, the help file included will guide you directly to this feature. GIMP is also open source, meaning its free. Download GIMP for Linux, Mac OS, or Windows Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! 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